Review: True Colors by Melissa Pearl

My To-Be Read List is a meme hosted by Because Reading is Better Than Real Life where at the beginning of the month visitors can choose which book I’ll be reading this month. On the first saturday of a month the poll will be up, then on the second saturday of the month I’ll announce the book that won and on the last saturday of the month I’ll post my review of the book.

True Colors (The Masks Series #1)
by Melissa Pearl

Blurb:
Caitlyn Davis always cruised through life, not being the type to ruffle feathers or involve herself in high school drama. That is, until a chance encounter with a strange, homeless man changes everything.

Suddenly, Caitlyn has the ability to see behind people’s masks. She discovers that her life isn’t as simple as she imagined and high school is filled with secrets…some very sinister ones.

Unable to ignore her new gift, Caitlyn embarks on a mission to learn why one of her friends suddenly appears terrified, but masks her fear with a bright, smiling veneer. Will Caitlyn’s new ability lead her into hot water? Or is her new found vision a blessing that will expose her friends’ true colors?

Her quest will lead Caitlyn to lose friends, stand up for those in need, and even find love.

At Palisades High School every face tells a story…

My Review:
I bought True Colors partly because of the beautiful cover and partly because of the interesting blurb. Luckily the story was as good as it sounds. The main character Caitlyn meets a beggar and after that has the strange power to see people their real emotions. She tries to get her power under control, but also uses it to help others. She finds out a big secret, but she doesn’t really know what the emotions mean and there is a bit of a mystery plot line where she tries to find out why peopel feel a certain whay about another character and what he’s hiding. the whole book has a steady pace, but it really picks up pace towards the end when the mystery start making sense and there is even an almost suspenseful scene. The book certainly surprised me a few times as I hadn’t expected it to go into the direction it did.

There were a few things that skated the line of being realistic and unrealistic. Like at a certain scene where the characters made a decision to take matters into their own hands, while I think most people would’ve confined in someone else before acting. There were a few instances like that were I could understand why the did what they did what they did, but also found it slightly unbelievable. It wasn’t unbelievable enough to get me out of the story, but just enough to have me wodner if people would acts like that in real life or if things like that could happen. There are also actions of other characters that felt a bit risky for people with their motivations. And it was a bit darker than I expected in some places, but it was a great read.

What I like most about this book is how it focusses on how people often wear a mask and not show their true selves to the world or are hiding something, have deeper feelings than they show. Which ofcourse is logical, but also means that sometimes people are lying or putting on an act. I think it was realistic and I often have had the thought especially when things are hard about how outward a person can look happy while shouldering a burden no one knows about. It’s interesting to follow this character that can see behind those mask and realizes what people show to the world and what they really feel. I liked this and how it gave insights in the characters Caitlyn meet. It was well done and the way it was described made sense and I could imagine how the mask falling away would look to Caitlyn. It’s a big power she has and I liked how she dealt with and tried to use it to help people. While on the one hand the paranormal aspect of her power is subtle, it’s also very present and it’s really well written in a way that her gift becomes part of the way she observes the world.

The book doesn’t elaborate much on the origin of Caitlyn her gift beside the fact she got it from someone else and it’s left open whether she’s the only with a gift like this or not, but that lack of elaboration didn’t bother me. There is enough information about her gift and how it works and we figure things out along with Caitlyn, which worked for me. And I am thinking that in the future books we will learn even more about her gift and if she is the only one with a gift or not.

Caitlyn the main character is a typical teenager and I like how realistic her voice was. She did act like a teenager, but in a well done realistic way and not in an annoying way. She had friends and while they didn’t were the best friends she did belong somewhere. She’s still trying to figure out what she wants and where she belongs. I liked seeing her grow and change from her power. It was hard to see her realizing how different her friends really were, but I also think it was good and it gave her the chance to decide if she really wanted to be friends with them. It was interesting to see, although I did feel sorry for Caitlyn as facing all those true emotions of people was hard. There are some great side characters, but it takes a while to get to know them and decide who I really liked, especially once Caitlyn has her gift it became clearer what people their true emotions were. Libby was a great side character, just like Erick, Micah and Indie.

There is some romance and while it isn’t the focus it’s still a part of the story. I thought the romance was done well. It developed at a nice speed and I felt they really had a connection. It also had a typical teenager feel, but in a good way. And I liked how Caitlyn actually told others about her power and didn’t keep it a secret and it certainly helped the romance along as well. The romance was sweet and believable and I liked these two together.

To conclude: All in all True Colors is a very original and fun read. I liked the story and it surprised me with the mystery and suspenseful direction it took at the end. It had a typical teenager feel, but in a well done realistic way and not in an annoying way. Caitlyn is a great main character who grows and changes a lot over the course of the book. She shares her secret of her gift with a few people and I liked how she figured out who her real friends where and what to do with her gift along the way. The romance was sweet and well done. The ending wraps things up nicely and I was actually surprised to learn this is a series and not entirely sure if I want to read the rest as it could function as a standalone pretty well.

Hey, Lola! This sounds like a book that I would really enjoy. Who doesn’t love something original, and I love a nice dose of suspense. It is nice that the main character is on the realistic side. There are not enough realistic teen characters in YA. Thanks for your review. I am picking up a copy now and will let you know when I read it.Suzi Q, The Book Dame recently posted…Kindle Kandy No. 7

Yay! I hope you’ll enjoy it as well. I am looking forward to hear what you think of it! And it was so refreshing to have a realistic main character. I hand’t expected the suspense, but it was a nice touch and I couldn’t put the book down once it started as I had to know how it would end.Lola recently posted…Review: True Colors by Melissa Pearl

I think I would like to have that ability. I would use it everywhere, hopefully I would see that people are responding well to me. I think I would really benefit from it at work. Since I work at Hospice, it would be good to be able to provide what people need, when they need it. (i.e, support, professional demeanor, education, space from the subject)

I can imagine that when working at a hospice it would be handy to know what people need. I think such an ability would be very handy, but it also gives that person a lot of power. You can basically manipulate others because you know their emotions and it will be very hard not to sometimes. And you would see a lot of not so nice emotions as well, but on other times it would be so handy knowing what to ks or do without peopel having to tell you.Lola recently posted…Review: True Colors by Melissa Pearl

Yeah it was ncie to feel like this booked ended things and I would not necessarily need to read the next book as things got wrapped up nicely here. But if I want more I can read the next book. It’s an unique feeling, the opposite of a cliffhanger ending almost. It was a great book and I had a lot of fun reading it 🙂

It was certainly a fun and intriguing book. I didn’t mind that it wans’t elaborated too much on the powers she had, but I thought it was worth mentioning it. Her power was interesting and I am curious whether we learn more in the next books.

Glad there was a good story behind the pretty cover. I would think that seeing someone true emotion would come in handy when dating. Seems like you would be able to cut through a lot of the games that go along with it.Bunnita @ Worth Reading It? recently posted…My To Be Read List – Book Review: Mindspeak by Heather Sunseri

I like it when that happens, a pretty cover catches your intention and the story turns out to be good as well :). That was certainly the case with this book. I think that seeing true emotions would come in handy and the dating thing is actually one of the things that happens in the book. Although I also think it can be hard and maybe even give someone an unfair advantage at times. I like how the book illustrates both those sides of her ability and how much good it can do, but also the opportunity for misuse.Lola recently posted…Review: True Colors by Melissa Pearl

Woot, woot! I’m glad that you ended up liking this one a whole lot, Lola! When you made us choose before, I actually didn’t read the blurb at all and simply judged from the covers 😀 I’m happy to know that it ended up NOT disappointing in any way haha. I like that the MC can read other people’s emotons and has a teenage voice at the same time… so many books out there make such gifted characters more emo than they should be.

Well in this case the inside is as good as the cover. And I like how the cover hints at the mask and the hiding your true emotions part of the story. The main character was a normal teenager with a gift and it worked and I liked how she had a real teenage voice.

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